In addition to the financial problems for General Motors, their financing wing, GMAC, is also in serious trouble and seeking to renegotiate deals with bondholders to stay afloat. Automotive News reports:
 

GMAC Financial Services LLC extended its deadline to Dec. 26 for bondholders to swap $38 billion in debt for new bonds of lower value – a deal that could help the captive finance company avert bankruptcy.

Over the weekend, GMAC said it had reached an agreement in principle with “a substantial portion” of its bondholders to take part in the deal. It extended the deadline for participation from Friday, Dec. 12.

GMAC provides dealership inventory financing for about 80 percent of General Motors vehicles worldwide. If GMAC were to fail, GM dealer Martin NeSmith predicts that as many as half of GM’s 6,450 U.S. dealerships could be forced to close. NeSmith, a dealer near Savannah, Ga., is GM national dealer council liaison to GMAC.

GMAC needs to raise money quickly so it can become a bank holding company. That shift would enable GMAC to qualify for a share of a $700 billion rescue fund for financial institutions created by the federal government.

The article notes that GMAC must raise $30 billion in capital in order to qualify for funds from the Treasury Department through the TARP program. This also affects Chrysler, however, as Cerberus, the private equity firm that bought Chrysler a few years ago, also owns a 51% stake in GMAC. General Motors owns the other 49% of the company.